Pravah co-founder Ashraf Patel among 15 social innovators awarded globally

A Brazilian using hip-hop to turn youth away from crime, a park ranger using technology to revive Australia's indigenous culture and an Indian nurturing inside-out youth leadership figure among the social innovators of 2022 announced on Tuesday.

The awards, announced by the World Economic Forum's sister organisation, The Schwab Foundation, recognise 15 mission-driven leaders tackling the world's toughest problems, from social inequality and youth unemployment, to malnutrition and accessible healthcare.

These also include a Dutch nurse revolutionizing home healthcare and a park ranger turned tech founder using Minecraft to revive Australia's indigenous culture, alongside founders and CEOs, multinational and regional business leaders, government leaders and recognised experts.

The awards were announced on the second day of the WEF's online Davos Agenda 2022 summit, which will conclude on Friday.

The Indian on the list, Ashraf Patel is Co-founder of Pravah and ComMutiny Youth Collective (CYC) and has been recognised for three decades of her investment in the youth development sector in the country.

A journey that started in 1993 with just a few friends has today gathered momentum to reach over 15 million lives through a vibrant, active ecosystem of organisations and individuals with youth centric approaches to development.

She described the award as a celebration of youth leadership and recognition of the need to invest in collaboratives and ecosystems that not only impact society at scale but also transform the inner being of each young person they engage with.

''Young people are not leaders of tomorrow, but are leaders of today and investing in them must happen now,'' Patel said.

Brazilian awardee Celso Athayde, Founder of Central Unica das Favelas (CUFA) and CEO of Favela Holding, founded the country's largest social enterprise focused on favela communities, using music and sport to transform their lives.

Jos de Blok, Founder of Buurtzorg, Netherlands, is revolutionising nursing around the world with buurtzorg, meaning neighbourhood care, which puts nurses and patients at the heart of its social enterprise model, the Foundation said.

The list also includes Pradeep Kakkattil, Director of Innovation, UNAIDS, Switzerland, who founded global platform HIEx to link innovators, governments and investors and find solutions to global healthcare problems, from COVID diagnosis to the cost of medicines.

Another awardee, Sanjay Pradhan, CEO of Open Government Partnership (OGP), has been championing good governance and fighting corruption, while leading a partnership of 78 countries, 76 local governments and thousands of civil society organizations that are working together to make governments more open and less corrupt.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)